What do you call 25,000 cans of food in a high school gym? It’s not the start to a joke: it’s what was happening in the High School Gym on Saturday, December 16th.
Winter means that food begins to get scarce for some families, especially when schools go on break and children don’t get meals at school. To combat this, the city of Harrison puts on a food drive that benefits many Harrison families, making sure that children and their families won’t go hungry this winter. Each year when Christmas is on its way, the Harrison Mayor Fund helps numerous families ensure that they have food to rely on, as well as warm coats, hats, and gloves to wear.
Families often suffer in silence and oftentimes the people in need can be the students sitting in your class, your neighbor, a coworker, or even one of your friends. Donating food items can ensure that no one goes hungry this winter, and it’s also a way to clean out the pantry. By donating extra cans or other food you may have excess of, it eliminates waste. Rather than wasting away in a cabinet waiting for its expiration date and thrown in the garbage, it will get eaten by someone who needs it.
The Southwest Local School District gets involved every year, having K-12 students bring in non perishable food items if they can, as well as coats, gloves and other warm winter accessories to wear. It isn’t a school requirement to donate, as some of the kids in the building may be the recipient of these donations. It’s encouraged for every student to donate if they’re able, and the schools tend to do well with their numbers: Harrison High school collected 6273 food items this year in 2023, and the clothing item count is unknown. The district as a whole collected over 25,000 food items to help make the holidays more merry.
